


A blonde for Valentine's

by copenhagenborn



Category: One Direction (Band), Radio 1 RPF
Genre: Everyone Is Gay, Harry Centric, Harry doesn't wanna, Louis is sneaky, M/M, Nick is hosting, Speed Dating, Valentine's Day, Valentines, and harry is being a good friend, and zayn - Freeform, best friends!gryles, best friends!nouis, best friends!ziam, but zayn, so is Niall, until he meets niall, zayn is a really bad gay
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-14
Updated: 2015-02-14
Packaged: 2018-03-12 21:54:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,043
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3356675
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/copenhagenborn/pseuds/copenhagenborn
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Harry does speed dating for Valentine's day. </p><p>Or the one where Harry briefly dates all of the boys.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A blonde for Valentine's

It was Valentine’s Day and Harry was _not_ on a date, which might have been the first time since he had his sexual debut at seventeen. That was six V-days he had spent with someone he felt passionate about, and now he had to spend it all alone. Or at least not with someone he was involved with.

His best friend Nicholas Grimshaw, radio-host and all-time socialite, was the event planner of an exclusive all boys speed dating event. Grimmy had been very successful in his radio-hosting business, but the jump to hosting events like these for the public had not gone as well as he had hoped, whether if it was because of the homosexual thing or if they just did not like him, he did not know.

So this event where prices were not exactly cheap and he needed at least 20 males to attend had been a bit of a challenge at first, which was where Harry came in. Nick had bought both himself and Harry a ticket to make sure at least a tenth of the seats were occupied; but just the day before the event Nick had been called up and asked if it was plausible to extend the amount of seats present. A thing that had made Grimmy all giddy inside where after he had invited Harry out for drinks to celebrate.

And Harry had not really minded joining the speed dating; he was all for doing his friends a favour, so he had dressed up nicely in a pair of skinny jeans, the ones without holes, and one of those shirts that he paid what equal to some’s rent for; his hair was gathered in a neat bun on top of his head and he looked good.

But when he got there and saw the large gathering of men in the twenties, he suddenly felt out of place. He did not want to spend his Valentine’s Day talking to ten different men for five minutes before going home alone. He wanted someone to come home to, someone who wanted to watch the Notebook with him and would not mock him for crying but instead laugh at him before pulling him into their chest and place kisses all over his face so he forgot about all the pain and heart ache in the world.

Harry was through and through a relationship kind of person and he hated the dating scene. The way you had to tiptoe around each other, not sure if sex was something you could joke about or something to be kept private, if they would be fine with take out when he had to work late or if they expected a homemade meal if he was trying to impress them. He wanted someone who knew him so well that they could take one look at him and know what they could do to make it better.

 

“Welcome gentlemen to this year’s Valentine’s speed dating!” the blond host, who Harry vaguely remembered Nick introducing as Taylor, called when the last man had entered the room. “At the door you all got assigned a number, either a one or a two; this is based on the survey you took when you registered. All of those with the same number as you are the ones you are least compatible with, but you will have a brief chance to chat with them before you are seated.”

“What survey?” Harry hissed to his taller friend, who had a big grin on his lips as his eyes skimmed the participants.

“Oh yeah, I filled yours out for you; you know the usual you like your guys taller and very quiet, stuff like that,”

“That’s completely untrue, you fibber!” Harry screeched a bit too loud for a whisper that drew the attention of two nearby standing men, who gave him a strange look.

“Oh relax you slag, of course I did it after your preferences. Maybe you’re gunna calm down a bit if you finally gets shagged,” Nick rolled his eyes and turned to Taylor, who was still talking.

“.. if you on any time feel like you have find the one you want to go on a date with, you can lock yourself in and the other pairs will skip your table. At the end of the session, the one you’ve locked yourself in with is the one you take on the date.” She explained with a brief smile, “okay, if everyone are ready then divide into your numbers, the 1s are sitting down while the 2s are switching tables, let’s go!”

Harry looked down at the small sign in Nick’s hand and chuckled, “I guess we aren’t that compatible like people keeps saying,”

“I guess not,” the older man smiled and gave him a quick hug before finding his seat at his starting table.

 

Maybe this dating thing was not that bad, the drinks were free and cute waitresses were keeping them coming generously; at each table there was a different appetizer ranging from everything from chips to nicely cooked fish that you found in fancy restaurants; making Harry believe that maybe those tickets Nick had bought them were not completely cheap.

But the company could have been better. The first lad he had sat down in front of had talked his ear off about himself and his latest shoot. How some famous model had stopped by the shoot and giving him a few advices on how to strike the best pose when trying to sell underwear. And when Harry had asked him whether he preferred the brownie or the baked Alaska that he hotel sold, he had just looked at him appalled and asked, “Do I really look like the person who eats dessert?”

And that had been the final straw for Harry, because despite his position as junior producer at Nick’s show Harry had a true passion for cooking and baking – especially desserts. All of his former boyfriends had loved his cooking and he loved the way he felt when he got to take care of them, even if it was just in the slightest of ways.

“I’m just gunna go now okay? Like, I’ll hit the loo for the last three minutes and then we’ll not see each other again, is that cool?” Harry cheered falsely ignoring the confused look on his date’s face and got up.

 

The next lad he sat next to was a bit nicer, well a completely different league than the model guy. Liam Payne was his name and cute was he.

“I’m a fitness instructor actually,” he had proclaimed proudly when Harry had asked about his excellent physical shape. “Yeah, so I work out a lot, but it’s helping people achieve something that they might not could have without me that is so great.” And yeah, that was the kind of things Harry wanted to hear.

He loved charity work and everything about helping others, that why he loved to work with Nick because he was always the first one to volunteer if someone needed help or that thing with Comic Relief he did last week.

But as nice as Liam was, he was almost as dumb. Like when Harry had mentioned he cooked in his free time and that one time in the Christmas period, he had volunteered at some shelter where he had cooked reindeer for the homeless; a comment which had made Liam laugh loudly.

“What? Do you not like reindeer?” Harry had chuckled, because Liam might be one of those health nuts that insisted on a vegetarian diet, and yeah he could totally respect that.

But instead of some rants on how all living creatures were equal and should be treated as such, Liam sent him a big grin and raised his brows, “Look mate, I might not have gone to university but I’m not stupid. I know that reindeers aren’t real, Harry.”

And yeah, that was not what Harry had thought would come out of this very cute man’s mouth.

“I’m sorry Liam, but reindeers are very real. Have you ever been to a zoo? They’re there.” He said slowly, his hand reaching out and grabbing Liam’s to give it a firm squeeze, but the guy on the other side of the table was frozen with a dumbstruck look on his face.

“Are you telling me that Rudolph is real? Like, there’s _actual_ animal walking around the fairy-tale land of the North Pole?” Liam scoffed dubious, “You really want me to believe that there are creatures beside birds that are able to bloody _fly_? Because that’s freaking insane.”

Harry briefly considered if Liam just had a _really_ good sense of humour and would break out in laughter any minute now, but that never happened and with that, any semblance of attraction to the lad slowly ebbed out. Because Harry certainly found him funny and interesting, in fact he would love to be friends with him someday, but Harry needed someone he could talk about politics or the latest science journal he read at work before going to sleep and Liam would never be that guy.

So he calmly told him that no, not all reindeers were like Rudolph, and no, they could not fly, but yes, they did in fact exist. So Liam and Harry spent the last minute staring at each other, Liam with red cheeks and wondering eyes, and Harry with an apologising gaze.

 

Zayn was the second guy that made a lasting impression on Harry that night.

Zayn was the kind of guy that if you saw him on the street you would stop immediately and turn around to follow him with your eyes down the street. But the way he was sitting at the table with his bright pink shirt and a bit too tight skinny jeans, he looked uncomfortable and not anything like a man who owned the room he was in.

“Hi I’m Harry,” he greeted kindly and shook his hand before sitting in the chair across him. “How are you?”

“Yeah, I’m great thank you. I’m just glad that they finally made something like this for people like us, you know, gay guys. I like your shirt by the way; it really, uh, suits your skin tone.” The tanned man replied with a nervous stutter. “It’s great darling, is it Gucci?”

And yeah, Harry sometimes appreciated a man who knew his brands, but it was clear that Zayn _really_ did not know what he was talking about. “It’s Saint Laurent actually,” he frowned. He was not a fashion snob, all he did was dress nicely and appreciate fabric, but why would Zayn mention it when he surely was not sure what he was talking about?

“Oh yeah, that would totally be my next guess,” Zayn chuckled quietly and took a big sip of the wine that was placed in front of him. “Do you have a dog? I have one, it’s a Chihuahua called Princess. He’s just _such_ a cutie patootie.”

And _okay_ , Harry was gay, like boobs were something that freaked him out a little bit gay, but even he was not as gay as Zayn was portraying right now; none in his entire circle of friends acted like that.

“You’re not gay are you?”

“What? I would totally bend you over this table right here and, and shag your arse so hard that you cannot walk tomorrow because that’s something I do regularly.” Zayn huffed offended, but the wild look in his eyes told him that Harry was completely correct.

“I’m a top, thank you very much, but it’s okay you can tell me. Even if you were gay, you would be _too_ gay for me now.” Harry assured him with a smile and took one of the salmon rolls from the plate.

“Okay, yeah I’m not really that gay, but like my friend asked me to come so he wouldn’t be alone and I was kinda afraid that I would get thrown out of here if they found out,” he admitted sheepishly after taking a paranoid look around the room and making sure that no one was listening in.

“It’s cool, I’m also here for a friend – he’s actually the arranger so you don’t have to worry. He’s not gunna worry about it,”

“Liam was just worried that if he didn’t find another to bring he didn’t get to come because of the odd number of participants, so he just brought me along,” Zayn shrugged with a smile, and oh, Zayn was best friends with Liam.

“Well, the three of us should totally get together for a drink sometime, especially if none of us finds someone to go on a date with,” Harry smiled just as the bell rang signalling them to move on. “I’ll leave me number at the reception if I don’t see you later,”

 

Louis was the next lad Harry sat down across off and he, quite frankly, did not care about him.

“I’m not interested, I already know who I’m going on a date with, and I’m just waiting until he reaches me. So eat some food or drink some beer because I don’t really care if you stick around or not.” He stated the minute Harry’s bum touched the seat.

“Well, okay.” Harry nodded slowly and turned sideways so he could follow Louis’ line of sight. Which was focussed directly on Nick and not even like he was skimming the room and just stumbled upon him, but like he was following all of his movements like a hawk. 2I could help you if you want to?” Why not make Nick’s Valentine’s Day successful even if it meant that he might see Louis again.

 “What? No. You’re only gunna worsen my chances with that slow drawl of yours.” He scoffed offended, and yeah, Harry was just gunna sit there quietly then.

 

So when he reached Niall, he kind of did not care anymore. He just dumped down into the chair, thinking that he might as well try and get some sleep in while another guy talked about himself.

“Tough day?” an Irish voice chuckled from beside him.

“Yes, or a tough night really. It’s Valentine’s Day and here I am, sitting in front of ten strangers who’s not gunna wanna go home and watch some stupid rom-com with me, because either he’ll think that’s too soon in our ‘relationship’ or he’s just not that interested and the only reason he wants to be in my room is because he wants to shag me,” His head was pressed to the table top, so he was not even sure that the man had heard him but did he even listen? Harry did not think so, probably too occupied with thoughts of himself.

“I always prefers to watch the Notebook first and then Crazy, Stupid Love after, because you know, I really like the Notebook but I don’t want to feel like crying the entire night and Emma Stone is amazing, you probably know that, and then it’s like a Ryan Gosling movie marathon and do you really need anything else on V day? I mean other than someone to watch it with?” the lad replied and, was that a smile he could hear in his voice.

So Harry raised his head and looked directly into the most amazing blue eyes he had ever seen. The guy in front of him had dyed blond hair with a bit of brown roots that only gave him a bit more character, he was wearing a preppy white dress shirt and tight black trousers with a pair of Raybans struck in his collar.

“Oh, _hi_.” He blushed because this person might be the cutest thing to ever walk the earth. “I’m Harry, sorry for the rant.”

“Nice to meet ya mate, ‘m Niall.”

“So if that’s what you really wanna do right now, then why are you here? I mean I don’t suppose the people here tonight have any other plans and like, you sound like you would do fine if _this_ wasn’t a thing,” Harry questioned kindly and accepted the glass of white wine the waitress came with.

“’m here for a friend, Tommo. He’s had his eyes on this lad for a while and he saw his chance and took it. ’m just along for the ride. Didn’t really wanna sit alone tonight and didn’t feel like having a one nighter, so why not pay a lot of money for free alcohol and food while enjoying the joyful conversations of the everyday Brit?” Niall chuckled happily and raised his glass to toast with Harry. And if he had to judge by the way Niall almost missed his glass and laughed loudly at his mistake, he had graciously kept the drinks coming.

 

“Well isn’t this just the day of helping a friend? Like, I’m here for Grimmy, and I met this guy Zayn, who’s only here because of Liam, and then there’s you for your Tommo lad,” He grinned amusedly, because it was kind of funny that three grown men could not attend an event without having a friend with them.

“Oi, you know Grimshaw? That’s the lad Louis is pining for!”

“ _Your_ friend is Louis? But he’s so rude,” and how the hell could the two of them be best friends? Niall was warm, open minded and lovely to talk to while Louis was cold, dejecting and ignoring him completely. “He didn’t even want my help and like, I’m his best friend, I know how to woe him unlike your friend who’s just staring at him like a million pounds,”

“Hey, he’s just, he really likes him, and when they met Grimmy was really mean to him and said something about him being whiny and then there was something about their age difference which neither of them likes. So he just wants it to happen, like “Oh you’re here _too_? I didn’t imagine that, what a coincidence. I’ll guess we just have to suck it up,’”

“And Nick’ll be like ‘Oh I got something you could suck,’ and he would wink and they would just stare at each other until they just leave not so discreetly as they think it is. Yeah I could see that happening.” Harry joined in with a laugh because maybe Louis had not been as dumb as he thought; that certainly was a way to get Nick’s attention.

And then the bell rang and Harry really did not want to get up, because Niall was fun and Niall was sunshine embodied, so he looked to the blonde who was smirking slightly. “Are ya gunna stick around or are you leaving me?”

So he stayed with the blond talking about their previous Valentine’s Days and what they wanted to correct if they could. They talked about Niall’s job as a horoscope writer for this well-known magazine and his double major in music and political science. “I wanna be a songwriter, might wanna sing some one day, but writing’s really my passion. And it’s just a great industry to meet people especially as a writer. My parents are very political oriented, like me dad’s the mayor back home and mum’s one of them secretary of state, so it’s just really a second nature to me now,”

Harry told him about the work he did at the station and how he had met his all-time favourite artists like Kodaline and Coldplay and recently Hozier. Niall listened when he talk about his time in the kitchen, the way he talked about the cupcakes he had made for Nick’ birthday or the pot-roast he made his parents last time they visited.

They noticed the way Louis and Nick had snuck away to the loo and had been gone for at least half an hour when Niall’s phone vibrated and informed them that Louis would not be home later and that he shouldn’t wait up.

And when Taylor announced that it was time for the dates, Harry looked at Niall and said, “I got freshly baked brownies in my kitchen,”

This apparently was the right thing to say if one wanted to intrigue the blond, because he sprung up from the chair with a smile, “If ya got them movies then ‘m 100 percent in,” and what lad would he be if he did not have them?

+

Niall stayed over, mostly because Harry opened a bottle of whiskey when they got back to the flat. But when the first tears had sprung from Harry’s eyes near the end of the Notebook he suddenly felt a small arm sneak around his waist and pull him to the hard planes of Niall’s chest.

“Shh babe, the best part comes now,” Niall cooed into his hair that had fallen out of its bun. He ran a small hand through the wayward curls and scratched his scalp before planting small kisses from the crown of his head to the side of his jaw.

“But, he just loves her so much and then…” Harry cried quietly into the soft skin of Niall’s upper arm. He gently scooped the crying boy into his arms and slowly rocked him from side to side until his eyes started to droop.

It was first the next morning that he was woken when his front door was slammed open.

“I don’t think he’s home, he’s probably out running or somewhat. But he always has the best food in his fridge and he doesn’t notice,” Nick’s voice said to someone, who had not spoken yet.

“Then I’ll have to say thank you to Harry for breakie,” a light voice chuckled, who had to be Louis – who else would Nick bring to breakfast if he brought Louis home for a shag, “Who is he? I might have met him… oh, it’s you. And what the hell are you doing with Niall?!”

Somehow throughout the night the two had switched places and now Harry’s back was against the sofa with the blond boy resting on his chest. Niall was still snoring away, a bit of drool was leaking on the grey of Harry’s tee shirt, but he seemed otherwise undisturbed by Louis’ yelling.

“Please tell me why my best friend is lying on top of your _friend_ Nicholas. I certainly did not allow this to happen,” Louis proclaimed crossly to the oldest lad, who was hanging around the doorway to the sitting room. “Do something, tell him that he can’t.”

“I’m not his father _darling_ , he’s your age and almost my boss. And they didn’t shag, they probably fell asleep cuddling to some animated movie,” Nick shrugged and left the room to find the kitchen and probably make some tea for him and Louis.

“Just know that if you touch him inappropriately and I hear about, or if you do something that makes him want to write really sad songs about you, I promise you that I with jump with him on stage at his Grammy win and announce all of your personal details, social security, birthday, phone number, _anything_ – just so you know that Niall Horan is the best person you’ll ever find, and if you think you are better than him, or could do better than him, then you are out of your mind.” Louis ranted sharply but instead of giving Harry any time to answer he turned around and walked out to find Nick.

“What was that?” the low voice of Niall sounded before he roll to the side, but side he already was lying on the edge of the sofa he fell over and landed on the floor. “Where am I? Was that Louis I heard?”

“Good morning babe, you’re at my place, I’m Harry if you forgot, and yeah Louis is in the kitchen with Grimmy.” Harry explained slowly, a hand reaching down to pet Niall’s bed hair with a fond smile.

“Oh, well at least he got shagged last night,”

“Well I was thinking we went out for breakfast yeah? The other are in the kitchen and if I know Grimmy correctly they’re gunna shag again and I preferably don’t wanna be there,” Harry proposed with a soft tug to the blond locks making him sit halfway up.  

“Yeah, I think I would like that,”


End file.
